President Dr Irfaan Ali is encouraging miners to ensure they declare their gold, noting that there are many benefits to operating in accordance with the laws and regulations.
He made the remarks on Friday during an interaction with small miners at Puruni Landing, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).
For instance, he said “those decoration slips will help you to get a loan to grow larger and larger.”
“When you all sell your gold to all these people who just come and buy your gold, you’re making their balance sheet better. What about your balance sheet? So, they can take your declaration and go to any bank and get $200 million loan because your declaration adds up on their balance sheet. We want you to make your balance sheet start working for you…So even if you make 100oz of gold in a year, that’s 100oz of income you show the bank that you brought in for that year. It unlocks opportunity for you to get a loan to buy an excavator. You don’t have to go and pawn grocery and pawn your life to some person who gives you a little credit with a machine to go to work and you have to give them all your gold,” the Head of State explained.
“You declare your gold. We will work with you,” he added.
In fact, President Ali emphasised that the government wants to “invest in these areas to make your life here even more comfortable, to give you facilities, to expand facilities, to create opportunities. That is why we are going through this phase of having everyone become compliant.”
He also spoke about the need for all miners to get bank accounts, explaining that the government will send teams to mining areas to make the process more efficient.
The President also underscored the importance of all mining operations being registered.
“Because by registering your operation, you give us an opportunity to know who you are so we can help you. We can see your growth. So, when you apply for land, if you apply for land as a small miner, and we can see that you have been growing your operation, that you have been declaring, then it is easier for that land to be granted,” he explained.
To foreign operators, he encouraged them to get compliant, noting that “we are going to send a team here to help you, to regularize you, to ensure that you have a digital ID card, to ensure that you are entered properly into the system.”
The Head of State assured miners that this process of regularising the mining industry is not meant to create additional hardships. “Do not look at this period of getting things right, of regularising your operation, as a period of difficulty. This is a period that will benefit you tremendously in the long term. Tremendously,” he emphasised.
This point was emphasised by Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat who also addressed the miners. He said noted that the government’s recent enforcement exercises are not designed “to push our miners out of the sector”.
“It is designed to help you to become compliant, it is designed to ensure that your operation is legal,” Minister Bharrat noted.
The Minister of Natural Resources also elaborated on the measures included in Budget 2026 that will benefit the mining sector, such as the removal of taxes on vehicles often utilised in the industry.
“Now, a 2,000 cc four-door pickup, the duty on that vehicle will be $2,000,000. And that applies to any year. So, if you choose to buy a vehicle that is 2025, you still pay the $2,000,000 duty on it. That is a savings of almost $7,000,000,” the minister outlined.
“And you would know that most of the new vehicles that are being manufactured today comes with a smaller engine, but it is turbocharged, mainly because it is designed that way to cut emissions in the whole context of climate change, as well as lower consumption of fuel. And for those of you who prefer to buy a four-door pickup with a bigger engine or more power, Budget 2026 also caters for a reduction in duty for a four-door pickup 2,500 cc and below. You will only pay $3,000,000 duty on a four-door pickup 2,500 cc and below. And again, it applies to any year. So, if you decide to buy a 2025 four-door pickup that is 2,400 cc, you will pay $3,000,000. That is a savings of almost $10,000,000 on duty, “he added.
“I know many of you use ATVs, and right now if you will purchase a Honda ATV, you will pay almost $3.5 million for one ATV…After the budget is passed next week, you will pay less than $2 million for one Honda ATV. Because there will be no duty on ATVs anymore,” the minister further explained.
Meanwhile, the government expects gold declarations to rise to 510,450oz this year.
Last year, total gold declarations amounted to 484,321oz, a significant improvement from 2024, which stood at 434,067oz, a modest 1,954-oz rise from the 432,113oz reported in 2023.
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